


The calm after the storm never lasts

by Avengethytwistedfate



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-08
Updated: 2016-07-11
Packaged: 2018-07-22 10:01:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7431594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Avengethytwistedfate/pseuds/Avengethytwistedfate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Max wasn't prepared to leave the person that meant the most to her within the week and her whole life for one moment in time. Now set on a trip to Portland with the woman she saved from certain death she must decide between loyalties and will her powers be able to save her from the other Armageddon that is Mark Jefferson?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I just played this game with both of the endings and I absolutely loved it! Reminds me of another one of my favourites, Heavy Rain and for those of you in multiple fandoms and those of you reading my Hollistein fanfic that will be updated eventually, hopefully soon. I hope you enjoy this fanfic and have a wonderful day.

Max could feel the dread hanging in the air of the town she was set to leave with Chloe for a week. It felt so surreal, as if nothing had really happened, as if she would all wake up from this with a shake of the shoulders and a call for breakfast while she would be back home in San Francisco contemplating visiting Chloe for the millionth time. She regretted never calling her when she had five years to pick up a phone and send a simple "hey" text to her best friend, but she had no time to think about trivial things like that, it wasn't worth it. 

Chloe was now currently drumming her fingers on the steering wheel, staring ahead and not saying a single word, it was eerie. In all the words she had said to her that week she couldn't say anything when it counted and she had just saved her life once again even with the truthful conversation they had on the beach, even with all the crying and suffering. Even with the fact that Frank and Rachel were dead probably dancing with each other in heaven and doing God knows what, as if Chloe would want to find that out. As if Chloe would want to know her "angel" still loved Frank, it brought a bitter taste to her mouth and not because Rachel was dead. But Chloe said she showed her love, she still didn't know what that meant even as they stood hands joined looking at the chaos of the storm. Everyone was dead except for a select few including the name currently lighting up the screen of her cellphone, Warren. 

"hey Max." It read and she couldn't believe he was still alive, he was supposed to be dead in the middle of the Two Whales diner. He was supposed to be in heaven along with Joyce, Chloe's mom, he wasn't supposed to be texting her, maybe this was some sort of prank. "I thought you were dead Warren but it's so good to actually hear from you after all the shit that went down this week." Of course it was, Warren was one of her closest friends and the one she had to stop from killing Nathan Prescott as much as she wanted him bested at his own game of hurting people, it just wasn't worth it. "Yeah, between what Chloe's explained and me nearly massacring Nathan it's been a pretty hard week. I wish you were staying in Oregon though, I could use some help around here." Apparently he assumed she would be leaving forever, which was something Chloe had been raving about since Max left 5 years prior. She didn't understand a lot of things like when Chloe dared Max to kiss her or when she changed her phone background from her and Rachel to just Max, she thought it was all stupid little jokes and things that best friends did, boy was she wrong. 

"I'm not leaving forever Warren, I'm just leaving for a week with Chloe to Portland. She said she wanted a girls trip with me and said she had something planned for me." She was completely oblivious to what it was, she barely even knew of Chloe's feelings for her but she brushed them aside as just jokes that Chloe was pulling just to tease her, she wasn't going to deny that Chloe tugged at her heartstrings every time she looked at her but she doubted she shared those same feelings. It was like a game of heartbreak and she was bound to get hurt, wasn't she? Because Chloe loved Rachel not her, never her. "You don't get what that means Max? I think you're going to be surprised by her intentions in Portland but you never know, she could just be teasing you." Chloe was always one to tease, even when they were little kids sometimes William and her would play jokes on Max, William really was like a second father to her and she understood why Chloe was so messed up over his death. She honestly could agree with her there, she was sure it messed Joyce up, even if she did remarry and find comfort in David. She ruined that relationship too. 

Chloe then looked as though she was going to say something, Max looked at her intently, watching her. "What's wrong?" She asked knowing something was bothering the blue haired female, it was a sort of best friend instinct. "I'm just thinking Max, why did you even save me again if you know I'm just going to fuck up and die again? You and I both know there is no preventing my fate and yet you still choose to save me rather than the town we grew up in, why?" She knew this answer, it had been replayed as if on repeat the whole week in her head. "Because I can't lose you Chloe... I just can't..." It seemed like she wanted to say so much more than that simple phrase, as if she was dying to tell her what secrets she held but she didn't. She couldn't do that and let everything spill out for all Chloe to read on her expression and in her words, she was too chicken shit to do it. "But Max, wouldn't you rather have everyone else alive like how you blamed yourself for the death of Kate Marsh? Like how you even tried to save Victoria from being killed, wouldn't you rather be some hero than just someone who does everything for a person?" She shook her head, of course not. "Sorry... Killing Frank really fucked me up..." Why was she even apologizing? She didn't need to do that since her rambling was completely justifiable. "I understand, you nearly died so many times but Chloe I've done so many things with you in just a week... I'm closer to you than I ever have been... It's worth losing a few lives if you're safe." God she was being sappy. 

They said nothing else to each other for about 2 hours before Chloe spoke up while Max was asleep, shaking her awake. "maxi pad wake up, we're stopping at a hotel for the night." She said Max groaning and waking up with a stretch and a yawn. "What time is it?" She asked rubbing her eyes wryly, still half asleep from her nap. "Well past 12 but I have plans before we go to bed, what do you say to vodka?" She didn't have time for this, she had to get to sleep. "Chloe, we're both underage, you can drink but I'm not." Chloe seemed upset by this for some reason, what was she expecting her to agree with her? "And here I was thinking you were less of a chicken shit and you would do crazy things but deep down you're still the same Max." Max just laughed, "hey! I did say I would go to a mosh pit with you, you don't exactly know me anymore, 5 years can really change a person." Chloe stopped to ruffle up her hair. "No amount of time will ever really change you." And then she got out of the car leaving Max in a momentary daze before she snapped out of it and joined Chloe who was speaking with a man at the front counter about the room they would be staying in since they were in Portland by now and would be here for a week. "We got the room." Chloe said waving the keys in front of Max's face as though to prove it though it didn't need to be proved. "Yeah, it's been such a long time since we've had a girls night where it was just the two of us or your mom hanging around with us, I miss those days." Max said nostalgically thinking back to when William would leave them to their own devices when they were old enough and her mother would sometimes play games with them. Those were the days.

Chloe was currently trudging up to their room, not waiting for Max despite her noises of protest and discomfort trying to keep up. "The sooner you get your ass over here the sooner you get to go to sleep." Chloe said leaving Max huffing and jogging to catch up with the taller female. "You're a bitch." She retaliated, sticking her tongue out at her best friend. "I know I am, but you love me anyways." Max rolled her eyes than slapped Chloe's arm when she tried to wiggle her eyebrows at her. "Shut up! You love me too and you know it." That registered no response, just Chloe going off into the room seeing as there was only one king size bed in their hotel room. "Damn, you would think those fuckers would learn to accommodate for two people in a hotel room, guess you'll have to share with me. Or you know, sleep on the floor." Max chose the one that involved being more comfortable every single time so she just removed her shoes and got into her pjs before vaulting herself into the bed with a sigh. She wondered what she and Chloe would discover in Portland this following week, probably the usual tourism bullshit. Eventually Max fell asleep the figure of Chloe looming over her before giving her a quick peck on the forehead and collapsing beside her. "Have a good sleep Max, I'll see you when you wake up." She whispered wrapping her arms around the shorter girl's torso as she always used to do to help her sleep. 

A man rots in jail only his sentence won't be long on account of the male who was like a son to him bailing him out, Nathan Prescott and he swore he would get his revenge on the sick fucks that did this to him. "prisoner 1573598, you have a visitor expecting you." The guard said unlocking his cell but putting a pair of wrist biting handcuffs on each of his wrists as he was escorted out of the cell. Everything going according to his demented plans, like taking candy from a baby this work was. David should have killed him back when he had the chance, but he didn't and now he was coming back for the girl that did this to him, Maxine Caulfield. He and Nathan were separated by a sheet of glass, picking up each phone in order to talk to each other. "You and I both know we want revenge on whoeverthefuck. So here's the plan, you are going to be broken out in a matter of a few days but we need to get my father in on this with that infamous dark room of his that you used to kill Rachel. I can't disclose too much but you're going to have to start a fight as a diversion, I'll tell you the rest of the details later and we will make the two of them pay." Nathan said a twisted smile playing on his features. "Maybe we can kidnap Warren too, that little shit deserves what's coming to him after he broke my nose and attempted to mess with the Prescott name. We could make their lives a living hell while we make money off portraits of them, we could become filthy rich." Of course Mark agreed, he could totally see Max being his latest artwork. "I like the way you think, we could become rich while profiting from what has got to be some of my finest work while using the serum when we dispose of our so called heroes. Revenge is sweet Nathan and with you I think we could pull off a business, capturing them in a moment of desperation while they Cling to the thought that they won. They can't win for they are tricking themselves into believing that they can, when they come back to Portland, they won't know what even hit them." This was only the calm after the storm and the storm after the calm, Mark Jefferson wasn't done with them yet and they very well could breathe their last breath in the line of fire. 

Only time would tell.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max and Chloe spend time together let's see where this goes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to another chapter! Thanks for those of you that read this and enjoyed it, I've decided to continue this fanfic.

"You're so stupid Max, why didn't you save Chloe?" The nightmare once again starts Mark Jefferson now with hollow pit eyes that bore into Max's soul. He's merciless and he's going to kill her like he almost did when she was in that reality, the reality where she was captured by her own teacher. As if on cue David bursts in but he cannot be saved this time, his limp lifeless body goes to the floor the scar on his head oozing blood, the wound in his stomach showing his guts, such a horrid sight, there's a gaping wound in his chest. There's fuzzy talking, conversation about David being dead and then Jefferson moves his way back over to her. "You honestly thought you could save your friends? You honestly thought Chloe was more important than Arcadia?! One bloody person Max you dumb cunt! Well you're going to hell, I'll see you there." He said laughing a blood curdling laugh that made Max's blood run cold. 

She awoke with a start that morning. Tears were running down her face in endless streams and she felt arms tighten around her waist encasing her in the warmth of last night. She could feel Chloe's heavy breathing on the back of her shirt. "What happened Max? You look hella scared." Chloe observed, she didn't want to lie to her. "Nightmares, they just feel so fucking real... It was about Mr. Jefferson... He was trying to kill me..." Chloe paused for a moment, going over what she could say to her. "Didn't you say that I died in another alternate? Didn't you say that he did almost kill you with some fucked up drug and the only reason I'm here is because you went back and saved me?" Max nodded but slowly, as if it pained her. "Yeah... It was different though... His eyes were hollow pits and David was left to bleed out... He didn't save me that time... It looked so real... As if it was a scene from a horror movie..." Max said taking a rather shuddery breath going to the edge of the bed and sitting down. "I'd assume this sort of thing would happen, something like that would really fuck a person up. But I'm glad you're still alive Max, I don't know what I would do without you. Without you I wouldn't even know about Rachel being dead or so many things in one week of utter hell. I missed you Max..." The words hit her like a truck, maybe she meant more than she originally thought to Chloe, maybe she could finally achieve her love. She shook her head however, it was futile, she loved Rachel. "I'm going to take a shower." She said getting up and heading off to the bathroom. 

She stripped down once she was in the bathroom, stepping into the shower. She turned the water scalding and starting scrubbing at her naked body. She was trying to get rid of the layer of filth the nightmares provided, as if she could scrub the horrid images away. As if she could pretend everything was okay and she wasn't fucked up for life. When she was done she stood then slunk down against the wall of the shower and cried. She was having flashbacks, Chloe's lifeless body as Jefferson stood over her, every little fragment of the week unfolding in flashes. She holds her head, unable to stop every violent flashback. So many people were dead because of her and she couldn't go back, she couldn't let Chloe die due to her own selfish desires to keep her here. Kate jumped because of her, Evan died because she couldn't save him, a homeless woman died because she didn't talk to her let alone warn her. Chloe died too many times for her to handle, she might as well have been going crazy. 

A knock at the bathroom door snapped her out of her morbid thoughts. "Maxi-pad, are you okay in there? You've been in there for like hours." She got up then turning the water off and draping a towel around herself. "I'm fine, it's just fine." She said voice slightly shaking. "I'm coming in, wether you like it or not." Then the door was opening, a little jiggle of the lock and then there was Chloe standing there, actually worried. "Seriously what the hell happened in there? Did you have a panic attack or some shit?" She did but she would rather act as though she was okay until her friend broke her down enough for her to spill. "No... Don't worry about it... I'm fine..." She said shakily, her voice barely above a whisper. "Max..." Chloe said using the very tone she used when she didn't believe her. She was brought quickly into the strong arms of the other despite having only a towel over her petite frame. She was rubbing her back carefully, as though Max would break if Chloe wasn't being so careful with her. "You don't have to act like you care so much... You could go..." But Chloe shook her head, holding on tighter. "Like I said at the Blackwell pool, I'm never leaving you. You hella saved my life a bunch of times, you risked your life to save me. The least I can do is be there for you when you need me. We could own this town, take it as ours, paint the town red. But seriously you'll get through this, you don't give a shit what other people think, you go for it Max. I guess what I'm trying to say is I-" Chloe was cut off by a ringing in her pocket. "One sec Max, gotta take this." Chloe said then leaving the bathroom to take the call. 

"What the fuck do you mean Warren? I know my mother is fucking dead! How would I not know something like that?! How did you even get my number?!" Chloe was practically screaming at him, how dare he remind her of her mother's death. "Calm down?! Calm down?! It's irrational to be fucking calm when you remind me that my life is a total shit-fest! First dad dies and leaves me so fucking abandoned! Then Max leaves for 5 years without a single text message and also leaves me abandoned! Then Rachel leaves me and gets herself killed! And now even my mom is dead and only my step-douche is alive! Do you know how that fucking feels?! Fuck you okay?! Just... Fuck you... You don't know shit about my mom..." Her defence mechanism ever since William first died was controlling her words, a bitter filthy pain that clawed at her heart and mind until there was nothing left. Nothing left but a skeleton and that skeleton fired insults like pulling the trigger to the gun she stole from David. "Listen to me, I didn't know your mom but she was a good lady. I'm just letting you know her funeral is in 2 weeks from now... I think you should attend." Those words made everything real, she knew she was going to be forced into a black dress, she knew she was going to go through the same thing as when William died. The pain, the anguish, the destruction of her happiness. Max made her feel more than she had in all her life in just a week. She gave her a purpose, she brought her back from the horror of Rachel leaving. She made her forget all the wrong things and focus on the positive. For once in 6 months, she was happy. But no matter what she did she couldn't tell Max that she loved her. Maybe she shouldn't even say it, maybe each time she would be interrupted and it was a lost cause. Maybe she was fooling herself into thinking that Max loved her, and maybe she didn't give a damn. 

Max decided to finally head off to the bedroom, changing into the clothes she had packed neatly in her suitcase. She put a simple black jacket over her plain baby blue t shirt and worn out mom jeans. Chloe was probably still talking to whoever was on the phone with her, she didn't dare bother her. Until she received a knock at the door. "Get your ass ready, we're heading to a diner for breakfast, my treat." She heard Chloe say, immediately brightening up as the thought of Belgian waffles came to mind. "Be out in a minute." Chloe however wasn't having it, being the person who loved food and thought with her stomach. "You. Me. Food. Now." Max rolled her eyes, of course, she was like this ever since she was a child. "Alright, alright, I'm coming." She said grabbing her bag and opening the door to a crossed arm Chloe. "Took you long enough." Max yet again, slapped her promptly in the arm. "You and your bottomless pit of a stomach, need to chill." 

All the way to the diner they were bickering like an old married couple. Fighting over trivial things but never caustically, always playfully. When they did get to the diner, Chloe sighed deeply. "The bacon and eggs are calling out to me Max. I'm going to eat my weight today." Max simply rolled her eyes, it wasn't even noon yet and she was already managing to make her roll her eyes. "I don't think eating 125 pounds worth of bacon and eggs is exactly a good idea." Now it was Chloe's turn to roll her eyes. " No shit Sherlock. But just watch me bitch, I'll eat all the damn bacon and eggs. Every. Last. Piece." Max laughed, she almost forgot how funny Chloe could be. "You're ridiculous." She said before they were sat a booth and started skimming over the menus. "Let's see if we can order for each other. Winner gets to make the loser do everything they say for one week." Max stuck out her hand to shake Chloe's after Chloe stuck out her own hand. "Deal, you are so on." Chloe ended up winning since Max forgot she liked her eggs hard instead of scrambled. "Damn it! I totally would've won!" Chloe laughed, relishing in her victory. Max ended up laughing along with her, ending up turning the attention of a few heads. She blushed in embarrassment, looking down to the floor. Her shoes seemed very interesting at the moment. "Well,well,well super-Max isn't seeking so mighty at her defeat. Don't use your powers to go back on me either so you can win." Max shook her head. "I'm not going to do that, Chloe. Besides, you're kind of cute when you get all happy like that." Chloe then smirked, she was loving this. "Oh? Then if I'm so cute your first duty as my humble servant is to kiss me." Wait what? Max's face grew immediately scarlet at the thought of kissing her. She slowly leaned in closing her eyes apon the contact of Chloe's soft lips. Hers were slightly chapped but it wasn't as if Chloe cared, the first kiss was fleeting but this one was so much longer. "Here's your-" the waitress stopped when she saw the two locking lips and just placed their meal on the table. That made Max pull away in embarrassment. "Do you love me, Max?" Max paused for a moment, wide eyed, then averting her eyes. "Y-yes..." She said hesitantly, god this woman drove her crazy. Then she felt a pair of lips crashing against hers in perfect harmony. Her hand rested on Chloe's thigh the other rested on the small of her back. The whole diner was watching them at this point. If Max thought she was in trouble before she was in 100x more trouble now. 

Fuck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The kiss is real! Next chapter might include some erotica and mature themes so look out for that. Want more pricefield? Keep on reading.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading this chapter more will be on the way so stay tuned for that. Let me know if I should continue this and if you want more pricefield. Love you guys!


End file.
